"You Didn't Plan, Truth Will Come Out": Minister Hardeep Puri To NDTV On Bengaluru Deaths

Union Minister Hardeep Puri on Friday blamed the Bengaluru stampede deaths on a lack of planning by the Karnataka government, when 11 people died in a crowd crush outside a Bengaluru stadium, as tens of thousands turned up to cheer Royal Challengers Bengaluru's title win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this week.

"I totally agree with the criticism that the BJP has levelled against that state government. You know, I come from an old school where one life lost is one life too many. And these are innocent people. You didn't plan it, now you are trying to pass the blame on to someone else," Mr Puri told NDTV.

The euphoria of the vast crowds ended in disaster when 11 mainly young fans died in a stampede near M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the RCB players were parading the trophy.

"It's not very clear what advice you were given. The uniformed people had also turned around and said that they had advised against holding it without adequate preparation. But it's very sad. But I think people should learn a lesson," said the Minister.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political secretary K Govindaraj and head of the information department, Hemant Nimbalkar, are among those who have been suspended since Wednesday, the day of the tragedy.

"This is one of those knee-jerk, quick things," said Mr Puri on the suspensions, adding, "ki kisi ko blame kar do isme (that you blame someone for this), you know, try and get away with it."

On Thursday, in an interview to NDTV, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he can't express the pain that "we are suffering" over the deaths and that the state government is "very sorry".

"Can't express the pain that I am suffering. Never expected this to happen. Entire state was watching. We are very sorry," Mr Shivakumar said, adding that he does not want to politicise the issue.

All the victims of the stampede tragedy are under 40, with a 14-year-old girl being the youngest.

Not naming anyone in particular, Mr Puri said "truth will come out".

"I will tell you something about India. Whenever something like this happens, you will be very clear that the truth will come out. You can't get away with this. And then blaming wahape bhi hua(it happened there also). What kind of nonsense is this? They will have to pay a price for this," said Mr Puri.

The "wahan pe hua (it happened there)" is a reference used by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to draw comparisons with other tragedies such as the Kumbh Mela stampede.

"Many such stampedes have occurred. Even worse ones have happened. I am not defending this, but similar incidents occurred during the Kumbh Mela, where around 50 to 60 people died," Siddaramaiah had said.